Review of The Sentinel (1977) by Dann V — 16 Oct 2008
Neo-gothic religious horror with an all-star cast and some pretty extreme imagery for a major studio film in1976. The film is old school heavy on atmosphere (its quite creepy) and works very well until the film unravels in the end and turns to a bit of camp.
The wide-angle camera work, and distortive close-ups are particularly effective and are almost similar to those Kubrick would later use in The Shining. The performances are top notch (this may be the best performance I've seen Burgess Meredith give).
and the dialogue, for the most part, is quite successful for 3/4 of the film. The film is a bit troublesome in its portrayal of suicide and especially its exploitation of the disfigured, and the film's ending leaves us with a troublesome theology.
Which is interesting because this film is sort of an inverse of Rosemary's Baby, but this films ending may be less optimistic toward humanity.
This review of The Sentinel (1977) was written by Dann V on 16 Oct 2008.
The Sentinel has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
